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posted by martyb on Thursday December 12 2019, @11:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the worlds-first-commercial-electric-beaver dept.

The Guardian is reporting;

The world's first fully electric commercial aircraft has taken its inaugural test flight, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver and flying for 15 minutes.

"This proves that commercial aviation in all-electric form can work," said Roei Ganzarski, chief executive of Australian engineering firm magniX.

The company designed the plane's motor and worked in partnership with Harbour Air, which ferries half a million passengers a year between Vancouver, Whistler ski resort and nearby islands and coastal communities.

The recycled 62-year-old de Havilland Beaver seaplane is designed for short hops of 160 km or less, which represents the majority of Harbour Air flights. They're looking to save millions on costly maintenance and downtime. Harbour Air hopes to convert most of their airplanes after certification.


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  • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday December 12 2019, @03:49PM (2 children)

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Thursday December 12 2019, @03:49PM (#931424) Journal
    How do you plan to drive to a place with no regular roads, maybe just an abandoned logging trail? 15 minutes flight as opposed to a week mudding?
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 12 2019, @06:46PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 12 2019, @06:46PM (#931480)

    Your use of an outlier scenario did not make the general argument any stronger.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by barbara hudson on Thursday December 12 2019, @07:15PM

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Thursday December 12 2019, @07:15PM (#931495) Journal

      The airplane is purposed for a specific market. The article has nothing to do with general market conditions - it's fulfilling a niche in a green way while saving a million dollars a year.

      There are other niche markets that can save money by going green. They don't have to wait for products for the general market. They can afford to make the research investment because today there's already so much of the technology that no longer needs to be invented from scratch.

      An electric short-haul airplane for regular use by air operators would have been impossible a decade ago. I saw the flight on TV last night - looks the same as a regular Beaver. The propeller sounds the same - but where's the engine exhaust noise?

      There are plenty of cities with multiple airports - a main one and a few lower-traffic within half an our with an aircraft like this. Gotta shuttle small loads or a few people between them? This is a lot better just from the noise aspect for city airports. The money savings are a bonus.

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